Buli watches the African and Asian Cups
Deployments cause massive problems for sensational teams – right?
By Sebastian Schneider
January 7, 2024, 7:24 a.m
The African and Asian Cups come at an unfortunate time for the high-flying ranks of Bayer Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart. But not everything has to be bad for the two big surprises in the Bundesliga.
Basically, it’s bad news in club football when two continental tournaments take place in the middle of the season. When the core workforce is spread around the world, a lot can happen. They could get injured between flying miles or, perhaps even worse, a team’s flow can break if central supports are not in their intended location. Neither is particularly helpful for the rest of the season.
But there are also exceptions. At Werder Bremen they see the challenge as an opportunity. In the north they have great hope for the Africa Cup. There, the permanently injured new signing Naby Keïta should finally be able to do what he hasn’t done so often in recent months: gain real match practice. And as captain of the Guinea national team.
The Africa Cup in Cote d’Ivoire (January 13th to February 11th) and the Asian Cup in Qatar (January 12th to February 10th) are already casting their shadows not only for Werder Bremen. Most Bundesliga clubs face challenges – they are particularly big for the two surprise teams. For Bayer Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart, the travel wave comes at the worst possible time because many of those who are responsible for their success will be missing. The remaining players have to prove that their soaring heights are sustainable. But that doesn’t have to be all bad.
Boniface gone, send back
The coming weeks can be crucial for Leverkusen in the championship race. In the worst case scenario, attacker Victor Boniface (Nigeria) and the core defense around Odilon Kossounou (Cote d’Ivoire) and Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso) will be missing until mid-February. It is precisely the time when the league leaders play against title rivals Rasenballsport Leipzig (January 20th) and then also against series champions FC Bayern (February 10th).
Nobody knows whether Leverkusen’s streak of 25 competitive games without defeat will survive this period. In the fine-tuned and successful machine that the team has become under coach Xabi Alonso, changing parts on the fly could be a risk. For most of the first half of the season, the Spaniard hardly rotated and trusted the same structure as the first eleven.
And yet Alonso is not going into this difficult phase unprepared. The Spaniard tested a new defensive line of three for the first time in the 4-0 win against VfL Bochum, which was formed around German international Jonathan Tah. That worked well too. The Bayern loanee Josip Stanišić was used, who could play a larger role in the future.
The last competitive game before the winter break also had some good news for Alonso. Not only did he have to rebuild the central defense, but the most important attacker, 16-goal man Boniface, is also traveling. The successful return of recovered striker Patrik Schick to the starting eleven comes in handy. After 14 months without appearing in the first eleven, he scored three times. Therein lies the opportunity: If the weeks go smoothly, Leverkusen has proven that it actually has championship potential.
Guirassy gone – forever?
The situation is different at VfB Stuttgart. It’s more about not losing momentum completely. After an impressive first half of the season, Sebastian Hoeneß’s team is in third place in the table and is far away from the relegation zone. The club from Benztown has been hanging around there, especially in recent years. And with the 34 points they have collected in the first 16 games, they will have little to do with it in the rest of the season.
This is now an “unusual situation that we want and have to deal with,” explained sports director Fabian Wohlgemuth during the week. The sports director is not afraid that his team could weaken. “When I look at the players’ faces, no one is satisfied with the results we achieved in the first half of the season,” said Wohlgemuth. You want to keep pushing and score points. “We are ambitious,” explained the Berlin native. The season’s goal of avoiding relegation has given way to greater chances of success.
However, with the two continental tournaments this could become more difficult. Because it’s not just Hiroki Ito (Japan), Woo-yeong Jeong (South Korea) and Silas (DR Congo) who are missing: The concern is that Serhou Guirassy (Guinea) will not only travel to West Africa, but also use the transfer window (open until the end of January). to leave Stuttgart is big. Guirassy’s 19 competitive goals contributed significantly to Stuttgart avoiding relegation and reaching the DFB Cup quarter-finals. But also the fact that FC Bayern and other major clubs have shown interest in him. His contract runs until mid-2026, but an exit clause could ensure that he only ends up in Stuttgart again after the Africa Cup to pick up his things.
“We are prepared for all eventualities,” assured sports director Wohlgemuth at the start of the Swabians’ training. As far as Guirassy is concerned, there is “nothing new since the last Bundesliga matchday” and “no new status”. The club is “prepared for anything. We can’t do more than that.”
And luckily, Denis Undav, the next photoshooter, is ready. Undav recently decided to join the German national soccer team and hopes that his name will also be among them when national coach Julian Nagelsmann announces the final squad for the European Championship in mid-May. When Guirassy was injured in the first half of the season, he successfully filled the gap. The Africa Cup can be an opportunity for him.